Sumo Bento Express
Categories: Sushi Bars, Karaoke [Edit]
425 N Whisman RdSte 100
Mountain View, CA 94043 (650) 965-2830
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Mon-Thu 5:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
Fri-Sat 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Fri-Sat 5:00 p.m.-9:30 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Lunch
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
60 reviews
Sunnyvale, CA
"I'm SURPRISED that this spot is at a 3 star. I'm sorry, but I've been going to Rokkos for 3+ years now. I'd say 4 even. The service isn't…" read more »
18 Reviews for Sumo Bento Express
This place was closed for couple months and got taken over by new owner last week. I gave a try since everything was 30% off. Surprisingly, all the rolls were very delicious and sashimi was very fresh. They changed name to MOMO SUSHI. They have told me that they have another restaurant in Fremont, then I realized that Momo in fremont is my favorite ,too. The service was great. I will be their regular customer!!!
Improved but still pricey. I'd give it 2.5 stars without the 30% promotional discount.
Formerly Sumo Bento Express, they changed ownership about a month ago and now it's called Momo Sushi. I finally went back today because it's the last day of their promotional 30% discount. The overall concensus amongst my coworkers and I is that the quality of the food has improved significantly from when it was SBE.
I had the bento special with sashimi, saba, and tonkatsu. The sashimi (tuna and salmon) was surprisingly fresh and good. The saba was average and the tonkatsu was very dry. But the big improvement is that now they don't drown everything in heavy sauces. The salad still had too much dressing.
The staff were attentive and filled up our tea often. They have 3 flat screens TVs that show various sports.
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Why does this place even have 3.5 stars?
Man, I had a horrible experience at this place since it changed over to Momo Sushi, not that Sumo Bento Slowspress was any better.
1) When we entered the restaurant to wait for a table, both waitresses were setting up a 6 person table. Is that necessary?
2) The waitress, instead of walking us to the table, pointed where we should sit.
3) The table was located right under the AC vent where it was blasting freezing cold air at my hubby and I.
4) We moved to a table right next to the cold table where it was slightly warmer (a foot away). I tried to wave down our waitress and let her know but she was not paying any attention at all.
5) When our food was ready, it sat and got luke warm at the pass. The waitress thought we abandoned our table, all the while we were right next to the table.
6) My hubby finally waved her down and told her where we were sitting. She brought out our luke warm food and failed to apologize.
7) We are never going to this place again.
Momo Sushi has much improved from when it was "Sumo Bento Express". Super friendly staff and decent food. But as someone else pointed out, it is way pricier for what it is. I'd pay those prices for a restaurant located in a happening place. Whisman Rd. hardly qualifies as happening.
I'm little bummed out because I thought this would become my weekly takeout being so close. With the 30% percent discount, it was affordable but not anymore. I was expecting strip mall prices. Not prime location premium.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
02/25/2008
I was super excited to see this restaurant open since it was within walking distance of my house.… Read more »
Korean run Sumo Bento Express rests in a new mini strip mall type complex that's arguably a year young, just off 101/Ellis by the mouth of Whisman.
The name: I must admit that this is a somewhat humorous yet oxymoronic restaurant name to say the least, especially to Japanese in the know and those who dine here.
Three things of note:
1) Sumo wrestlers staple of food at least in Japan, is the well known chanko nabe, or a hot pot filled with a ton of ingredients. More info here: http://www.banzuke.com... and hell even Maxim magazine covered an article about it (which involved at least one whole chicken, carrot, burdock/gobo, scallions, and many other vegetables designed to build the bulk and health). No Chanko Nabe at SBE. And I'm sure a Sumo would go anorexic eating bentos only here.
2) As mentioned by Nobu K and many other J-in the know, bento is typically to go only, or packaged combo lunch from home. In Taiwan and some Chinese deli places, bento is "bien dang" in Mandarin, a derivation nonetheless. It basically means packed meal, to go only. Yes they serve "bento" here or set combo lunches. It's cheap, affordable. Good? I don't know, didn't get em. Bento in Taiwan is pretty famous cheap affordable eats. Some restaurants serve them all times of day. Some of the best ones are the combos to eat on the train. http://www.yelp.com/bi...
3) Express.....well it becomes Sumo Bento Snail or Sumo Bento Sluggish once the lunch crowd hits. Get those orders in fast and furious, over order if you need to. Otherwise you may have to patiently wait while you starve.
They have 3 specials boards on the wall behind the sushi bar (manned by a single Mexican sushi chef, dressed in a garb that looked more ahem...like a pattern you might see on a NOREN, ie a sushi restaurant curtain by an entrance door like those in Japan and some other US sushi restaurants.
The specials boards? Regular run of the mill nigiri fish, and many common lunch special rolls that average at $4.95.
But if you want to come in for the signature Korean style crazy ass super rolls (aka Nobu K's trademarked term Jive Ass Rolls), check the pictures on the wall, or ask for the sushi menu (don't ask for the Crazy Ass Super Rolls Menu, you might get a strange look or a puzzled one by the server).
I let my friend do the ordering on this one, and yes it was a day for Crazy Ass Super Rolls.
Crazy Roll - on the sushi menu this was an inside out cut roll containing cucumbers and spicy hamachi. This was actually spicy hamachi (or tuna, fuck if I know it was all red), with tempura shrimp. Brushed with a sweet sauce, then squeezed tube squirts of spicy red (cock?) sauce and mayo on top. Yep crazy indeed. What was even crazier was the somewhat stale and old tasting crazy ass super roll rice they used (I'd say sushi rice but it doesn't even qualify to be called that).
Walnut Prawn - oh man who came up with this inspiration? Must have been from a Chinese wedding banquet dinner. You know where they serve honey glazed and mayo fried prawns with walnuts? This roll was a shrimp tempura roll with avocado, mayo and walnuts inside. While this was one of the more decent offerings on the menu, I shudder to think what's next. Maybe Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffft Changs will steal the idea. Sichuan By the Shizzle Roll? Kung Pao Shrimp Sweet N Sour Roll?
Cream Of Some Young Beyoch Handroll with Extra Happy Ending?
Lion King - I must admit that once in a while this crazy looking thing is interesting once in a while assuming you have NO other options, that is typically California roll, salmon on top with ample squirts of mayo, seared with blowtorch on top, then baked in toaster oven. Typical roll in most Korean sushi places. But wow this place does a HORRIBLE rendition. Small, not very well crafted, not very good salmon to begin with.
Dragon Roll - Tempura roll inside with unagi outside. Been there done that. Not bad, not horrible but I've had better.
And we also had spicy salmon handroll. Oh man the shit was orange and red. Normally salmon would have the white strips of fat in it, but whatever white was in it was gone and hidden from the spicy sauce mix. No idea if it was really salmon, or poor Nemo found his way to SBE, paired up with cock sauce and a piece of avocado. I'll pass on this one next time.
When this place first opened it was cash only, but now they take credit cards.
There are three somewhat smallish widescreen TVs on the walls.
On the walls are some pictures of the various Crazy Ass Super Rolls.
Oh, they have karaoke on Friday nights. Me avoid.
Nigiri? Didn't bother. One quick look at the fish bar, and pretty much voted on Crazy Ass Super Rolls, which interestingly was smaller in size than Hon's on Shoreline (where they live up to the claim name of BIG ASS STUPID NAME ROLLS), except Hon's is downright buck nasty.
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Where I work (Middlefield and Ellis) has close to no food choices (because I really don't want to go to Carl's Jr.). When my coworker mentioned there's a new Japanese restaurant just round the corner, I was thrilled to go.
Sumo Bento is located on Whisman kind of in the middle of nowhere - but since my office is located in the same area, it's not a bad thing.
Pros: Near to my work. The price is reasonable for the food you get. You can get a specialty roll and an order of California roll with a miso for $10.95. My coworkers liked the gyoza. I haven't have a chance to try everything yet, but nothing looks outright out of place.
Cons: When I went, I was not told that they didn't accept credit cards (although a yelper just updated and said they do now - so we will see). So they have an ATM machine. Only when I was there the ATM machine didn't work - so it was a tad embarassing to have to borrow money to eat. Their menu had pictures, which was nice for people who didn't know what they might want to eat.
There's nothing express about this place - even when the restaurant is half empty it took a long time for the food to come, and even longer time to get the bill, pay it, and leave.
I'd go back, but only if I had enough time, and I always have to check my wallet to make sure I have at least a $20.
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Deciding between 3 and 4 stars here.
I've been getting their ads in my pennysaver (I don't usually look past the front cover before I throw it out...) so wanted to try it out. I actually expected it to be a rundown place, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a new building and very clean and agreeable inside.
I didn't have the complaints the others had about slow service, but I didn't go after 1, so maybe the lunch rush was gone. I believe they do take credit cards now.
I had a bento box, so my review will not be so applicable to the more interesting side. The short ribs were on the chewy side, but good flavor. California rolls were standard, but good. The salad was a little too icebergy for me. But all in all, I was pleasantly surprised and would definitely return.
(this one goes out to my co-workers, as they are probably the only people nearby that would consider eating here)
Avoid. At. All. Costs.
If the staff/owners of the restaraunt were drivers on the road, and the restaurant was the car, I would have them arrested for driving without a license. Then I would impound the car. And forget where I impounded it. Or have someone drive it off a cliff.
In doing this review, I'm going to try a different approach - starting with a perfect score of 5 stars and detracting stars for each infraction.
-1 star: the name. Sumo Bento Express. About as appetizing and relevant to food as "Panda Express." It actually looked a lot like one from the outside.
-1 star: non-Japanese staff who said "sumimasen" and "irasshaimase" but when I responded by asking a question in Japanese they ignored me as if I hadn't said anything.
-1 star: typical mishmash of assorted Japanese flea market decor
-1 star: Mexican sushi chef that doubles as the water server (WTF?). If you are handling raw fish, PLEASE do not handle anything except raw fish, rice, your cutting board and your knife. Needless to say, I didn't order any sushi.
-1 star: 10 minute wait from seating to taking of order. There was a couple behind us that waited approximately 20 minutes to get their order taken. So much for "Express."
-1 star: ill-tempered Chinese waitress who, instead of taking our order, gave us an impatient hand gesture at least 3 times.
-1 star: Yamamotoyama instant tea bag sticking out of the teapot. Yamamotoyama, while an actual Japanese tea, is the kind of tea you can buy for $1 a box at the grocery store.
-1 star: They forgot to bring out misoshiru, which actually I didn't mind, for reasons I'll explain below.
-1 star: salad dressing for the included side salad was sickly sugary sweet.
+1 star: the gyoza, while not great, was actually edible.
-1 star: no dipping sauce provided for gyoza - no vinegar/chili oil on the table either.
-5 stars: curry chicken. Ever seen Superfriends, and remember "Bizarro Superman", the anti-Superman from Bizarro World? This curry chicken was the Bizarro version of curry chicken. Dry, slightly burnt grilled chicken which had not been seasoned. Two spoonfuls of curry, that didn't even taste as good as S&B Gold instant curry. I had to DIP MY CURRY CHICKEN IN SOY SAUCE in order to eat it.
+1 star: I asked for the misoshiru at the end of the meal, which allowed me to at least finish eating my rice and wash out the taste of Bizarro chicken. It is customary to eat miso soup with your rice, and not as an appetizer.
-----
-8 stars. Unfortunately I can't give negative stars, so 1 star it is. Just mentally subtract 9 stars from that 1.
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**UPDATED 11/12/07** Original post at bottom.
So I went back for a second time. I had to demote this place from 2 stars to one star. The raw fish was pretty bad, the worst I've had in awhile, I had to spit the tuna out into my napkin and chew some gum afterwards to get the stinky aftertaste out of my mouth. Please do not order raw fish here.
Their fried stuff seems not so bad. Tonkatsu was pretty good, but my Saba Shioyaki was kind of tough.
They now take credit card, which is a plus, and the staff is friendly, but the food is just not that good, especially for the price. I don't plan on going back here, especially when I can go to way better places that charge the same price. I prefer Masa's Sushi on San Antonio Rd.
ORIGINAL POST:
I'm kind of having a hard time deciding what I think of this place. We went there for dinner because it's pretty much one of the only restaurants walking distance from where we live, so we thought we'd check it out. I have to say I wasn't expecting very much from this place, and while it didn't totally disappoint, it didn't really exceed my expectations either.
The menu kind of has most of the stuff a typical small Japanese place would have, and surprisingly a lot more than just bento boxes. However, a few things bugged me:
1. Most of the restaurant smelled like bathroom. Not dirty bathroom, but it smelled like public bathroom that was just cleaned. I don't really have a very positive association with this smell, so it kind of grossed me out.
2. There weren't any sushi chefs behind the counter. All the fish was wrapped up and stored in the little glass refrigerator counter compartments, but I didn't see any chefs making sushi. Made me wonder where everyone was and feel a little suspicious about the sashimi.
3. One of the bento options is something like "Chef's Choice Assorted Sashimi". I asked our waitress what the assorted sashimi was, and she said something like, "Oh whatever the chef picks." Okay, so let me rephrase, what kind of fish is it? "Oh I don't know, the chef just kind of picks from whatever he has." Talk about unhelpful! She should have just gone and asked. Anyway, this made me strongly doubt the competence of the wait staff.
4. CASH ONLY. Wouldn't bother me too much if the prices were really cheap, but while not expensive, not super cheap either.
We'll probably end up going back since it's so close and to give it a second chance. And, I didn't have any complaints about the actual food, so we'll see if I change my mind about the place later...
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To be honest, the owners of this restaurant were not prepared when they first opened, but they have made obvious steps and even leaps to improve their customer service. The service was definitely less-than-spectacular when they first opened. From what I understand from my neighbors, during those first few weeks, they had to even call on their friends to help at the restaurant since their resources were so limited.
I live nearby here, so last night while we were walking the dog, we felt like some sushi and decided to try Sumo Bento again for some take-out. They had outdoor seating with some real pleasant, albeit dim, lighting surround the tables. So, we brought a menu to those tables and ordered our food to go. Even if it was just a take-out order, they brought us tea while we waited, and even provided us with complimentary rolls and miso soup - all of these were obvious efforts that they were trying to improve their customer service. So compared to other restaurants, I give them a big thumbs up for the definitely improved customer service.
Also, their sushi is pretty good for the area. I would definitely par it against Masa Sushi on San Antonio in Los Altos and Tsunami Sushi in downtown Mountain View. They also have a great location for local businesses, but I will be honest, I think that they need to remove that Express from their name. Even Miyake's, which is super known for being a quick Japanese lunch doesn't trick its customers with an Express. Also, Express implies that the food is cheap and lacking some quality. I think Sumo Bento has reasonably priced sushi with a good quality. My major issue is that they don't accept credit card and they just keep an ATM nearby. They NEED to accept credit card, especially since their business depends primarily on local businesses who will obviously expense their meals.
4 stars for improved customer service, pretty good sushi, and convenience. And if you're working late and are nearby, it wouldn't hurt to just order some take-out from here. It sure beats that China Express and Carl's Jr on the corner of Middlefield and Whisman.
I've eaten at this place four or five times now and have been pleasantly surprised with the quality of the food, the friendliness of the staff, and the cleanliness and atmosphere of the restaurant.
I've even subsequently invited some friends along to try the place out with me. They were pretty happy with the experience as well, well enough to invite some of their friends to go along the next time.
The only knock I have against them is that they don't accept credit cards. They do accept ATM payments at least.
Tried this place for the first time last night after clipping a 2-for-1 bento box coupon. For $12.95 we received 2 bento boxes (mine had tempura and salmon and my husband had tonkatsu and beef teriyaki), each came with miso soup, salad and a bowl of rice. The food itself was nothing to write home about, but at $12.95 it doesn't need to be! BTW, we didn't need the coupon for the deal... I hope it lasts, otherwise I'm not sure we can justify going back.
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I normally don't order just sushi and sashimi, but I decided to try something different on the recommendation of a friend who led me to this new place in Mt. View. The decor is modern and casual. The service is friendly and attentive. The sashimi is high-grade and tender, as are the specialty rolls. In addition to a mixed sashimi plate, I tried the rainbow roll, the Philadelphia roll, the spicy tuna roll, and a New York roll - all delicious with great ingredients. For those who are a little daring, there is karaoke after 7:30 PM or so on the weekends. The mics are brought to your table, so you don't have to feel like you're trying out for American Idol. This should be a great lunch stop for workers at the nearby businesses in the Middlefield/Moffett area of Mt. View. I will definitely try this again when I'm in the Bay Area.
to say that i "recommend" this place, hong k., is a stretch. we come here because our cafeteria food comes with flies and this place happens to be across the street, even though we still always drive here.
i have never been brave (or dumb) enough to order their sushi.
i eat their chicken teriyaki lunch specials not because i like bland chicken and salty miso soup and what they claim to be a salad, but because it's still better than what's at the cafeteria.
on a subsequent visit, they forgot the *udon* in my coworker's udon! i did like their curry chicken and onion beef entrees, so next time i don't feel like the cafeteria but don't have time to go out, i'll be back.
Update: They accept credit cards now.
finally, a cool trendy small japanese restaurant that i can call my own right in my neighborhood!
fresh sushi and yummy rolls, reasonable prices, friendly/eager staff, and trendy music/plasma tv decor that reminds me of the trendy places i've been to in LA. (the name "bento express" doesn't do the place justice!)
perfect lunch spot, but even better for bday dinner/date i think.
it just opened so take advantage of this hidden gem before it gets discovered...
Sushi has always been always my favorite choice. Normally, I would stick to places that I'm familiar with. Last week, I was in the neighborhood to visit a friend and she wanted me to try a new place. There are many japanese restaurants but I'm not impress with too many. And was suprise with the friendly service and wide selection on the menu. Variety and creativity is a must for me and I was impress to find both. My all time favorite was the seared garlic tuna tataki! I have always love seared tuna and with the garlic sauce, it only gets better! This is a place I would recommend to my friends, as I'm sure they'll enjoy it as much as I've had.
With the exception of the long line on opening night -- I have nothing but praises for this place. I enjoy the relaxed vibe and decore. The owner and sushi chef were both super nice. We sat down and asked them to serve us their best sashimi.... the hamachi and sake just melted in our mouths. The owner told us they have Karaoke on certain nights. Guess that's something we'll have to try out.
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